Important notes here about how recent flooding in the Four Corners region was exacerbated by anomalous warm ocean water in the storm's source region...from both El Niño and modern global warming.

Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · 22h ago

In case you missed my big November El Niño update, the full 90+ minute recording is now available (it's long, but information and data-packed--so consider using YouTube's auto-transcript feature to find segments of interest). Lots of good questions today!

Anyone have a Planet account that allows for next-day imagery viewing? My 'education and research' account has a 30-day embargo. It would be REALLY useful for disaster response here in SW Colorado to have the most recent Planetscope flyovers from Nov 3, and I can't get a response from sales.

This massive debris flow on the Stevens Creek fan north of #Durango has devastated several local farms that are staples in the community. The mud and debris and still-flowing water seem to have carved a wider swath than the last time this fan went big - after the 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire.

The #animasriver in #Durango just tied its mark from 1941: 12,700cfs. Despite the lower snowline of this storm, all the middle elevation tributaries went much bigger than they did in the last. We may rise yet higher. Lots of ongoing crises as many private bridges have washed out across the county.

Crazy scary flooding again in SW Colorado and across the Four Corners open.substack.com/pub/landdesk...

Relentless rain, stubborn saturation

Historic flooding hits the Four Corners region once again

open.substack.com

The new CBRFC forecast has the #SanJuanRiver at #PagosaSprings exceeding last week's historic peak early morning hours on Monday. That flood was the 3rd highest on record and highest since 1927. Very worrisome - so many are probably still in shock and assessing the damage.

Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · last wk.

Friday evening Weather West update on Halloween weekend storm across far SoCal & resulting serious flood threat across interior SW/Four Corners region. Also: thoughs re: ongoing record marine heatwave & CA ocean levels in context of extreme El Niño event.

Interesting geomorphological event occurred during the Animas River's flood last week: The river broke out of a levy that had contained it since the 1970s, into an abandoned gravel pit in the floodplain. Now the river prefers its new route, leaving an important ditch without access to the river.

Updated timelapse showing the #sanjuanriver #flood arriving at the bridge near Mexican Hat, Utah. Now at 38,000 cfs. Seems like it is going to test all this USGS gear providing these images!

Incoming #flood wave on the #SanJuanRiver is now expected to be >50,000 cfs at the Bluff gage - that is >14 ft ABOVE major flood stage. Absolutely devastating for the Navajo Nation / Aneth / Montezuma Creek / Mexican Hat / Bluff areas.

Jon Harvey@jonrv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Watch the #SanJuanRiver near Mexican Hat, Utah go from ~700 to ~17000 cfs in this timelapse made from images at the nearby #USGS river gage location. Final frame is from this morning. A higher #flood peak of ~33,000 cfs is heading this way, moving through Farmington, NM as I type...

USGS river gages dropping like flies as this insane #flood wave moves downstream on the #sanjuanriver. The gages "at Four Corners" and "near Bluff" are yet to receive the wave.

Watch the #SanJuanRiver near Mexican Hat, Utah go from ~700 to ~17000 cfs in this timelapse made from images at the nearby #USGS river gage location. Final frame is from this morning. A higher #flood peak of ~33,000 cfs is heading this way, moving through Farmington, NM as I type...

we are now up to 10,800 cfs in-town Durango, it seems like it really wants to break the 1970 record!

Jon Harvey@jonrv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Not all gages reporting, but the #AnimasRiver is now >7700 cfs (as of 6:30 AM oct 23), which makes it the largest #flood since 2005 (so far!). Still likely to see that number rise over the coming hours.

Not all gages reporting, but the #AnimasRiver is now >7700 cfs (as of 6:30 AM oct 23), which makes it the largest #flood since 2005 (so far!). Still likely to see that number rise over the coming hours.

Here we go! Already over 3000 cfs on the #animasriver and the rain train isn't going to be done for a while. With all the saturated soil and snow in the high country, this is going to be an event to remember in #durango.

As southwest Colorado gets pummeled by yet another hurricane remnant, I can't help but think of all the enormous #landslides (young and old) perched in the mountains above us. Here are some snaps from a field trip to a scarp near #Durango: ~60m thk dip slope failure in K rocks tilted to ~10 degrees

The winter that wasn't. Next 2 weeks arent likely to change this much. Trying to catch up on all the ramifications of Powell possibly hitting minimum power pool in 12 months...

Luke Runyon@lukerunyon.bsky.social · 10mo ago

A quick Colorado River 2026 snowpack check: -currently trending below 2002 (lowest runoff on record) -about to tie 2018 (lowest snowpack on record for late January) -warm and dry conditions predicted for February, March, April across the Southwest

December 2025 was a hot one in the Four Corners States - how did it stack up against the longer-term climate records in the region? A: yep, definitely hot.

December 24, 2025 - Chapman Hill in Durango, CO. I am impressed as the resilience of this man-made patch of ice against the wildly persistent high pressure "heat" dome we've been under for the past 3 weeks. My kid is happy to have something to ski on.

Watching the sun set on the southwestern US. We are lucky to be alive in a time where we can so casually look back at our planet from space.